THIS HEBREW WORD IS CHALLENGING TO TRANSLATE

Names are significant!

I knew this back in 1998, when we moved to Akron, Ohio. But Harold had always seemed to me to be a name of derision - thanks to Bill Cosby and his character, Weird Harold. So, since my parents had passed and I no longer had to fear offending them, and since we were moving to a new church in a new city where we had very few acquaintances, I decided it was a good time to change my name. I asked Brenda Young - the pastor of our church - to help me with this, and she readily agreed. At Cornerstone Church I became known as Pastor Hal.

I never expected family and friends - who had known me previously - to call me Hal. However, most people have adapted to and accepted the new name. My kids resisted it at first, but later grew comfortable with it.

Having been a Lyft driver for five years, I've learned lots of names that struck me as being very unique - even odd. Here are some examples from my log:
Zayy Tausha Meechielle Princess Kalisa Tornike Jatavia Nae Hae Nalvinia Calliyah Lemariah Tyjuan Jahquale Khali J'Lyne Imani Bolan Money Saurin

Debbie and I chose Travis' name because I worked with a fellow named Traverse - and we thought it was a cool name. After that, we decided to stick with the pattern for our next two kids: Troy Haire and Tracie Haire Kerstetter. We affectionately refer to them as our 'three T's' 😊

Things have clearly changed since I was growing up, when my three best friends were Bob, Larry and John. And that's okay! One thing we learn early from life is that things change - even common names.

In a world that has grown smaller via global interconnections, we often struggle with foreign names that look unpronounceable to us!

Reading the Old Testament can also be a challenge! Many of us just sort of skip over the difficult-to-pronounce names of people and places.

But I've already wandered.

In reading through Genesis as part of my daily reading, I came across a list of names in a genealogical listing found in Genesis 22:20-24. Apparently, Abram's brother, Haran, had a daughter named Milcah. Milcah married her uncle, Nahor [Abram's other brother]. [This practice was common in a day when the earth was FAR LESS POPULATED] Together, Nahor and Milcah had eight children - the first two were Uz and Buz - how's that for different?

But this whole blog is written to discuss their fourth child - who they named Chesed [also Hesed]. Few realize that this is a very special word in the Hebrew language.

Biblical translators and scholars throughout the ages have attempted to confine the term chesed to the realm of human understanding through words like lovingkindness, devotion, mercy, strength, grace, purity, loyalty, tenderness, and steadfastness. But each of these descriptors falls short on its own.        [https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-is-the-true-meaning-and-power-of-the-hebrew-word-chesed.html

 Our Bible stumbles over itself to try to describe the nature of our God!  For example:  

“They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love [chesed]. Therefore, you did not desert them,” (Nehemiah 9:17)

I have simply plucked this child's name out of the genealogy because of it's uniqueness! He is never mentioned again.

It reminds me of a young woman that I gave rides to periodically when I was Lyfting. Her name was Precious. I asked her what it was like to be called 'Precious' many times every day? She responded that it made her feel amazing!

I'm quite sure that Chesed would understand and agree!

I really have no interest in affecting the naming of our children! Debbie and I exercised our freedom in that action and we respect others who do the same.

I will admit, however, that as a counselor I have worked with a number of people who struggled in life because of their name. One young woman's name was Robin. That would have been okay, but her maiden name was Hood. She suffered mercilessly as a child and teen!

But the real purpose of this blog is to help you get acquainted with a God who is described with an untranslatable word - Chesed!

Recall some words that help us to understand the depth of meaning that is OUR GOD!

• LOVINGKINDNESS
• DEVOTION
• MERCY
• STRENGTH
• GRACE
• PURITY
• LOYALTY
• TENDERNESS
• STEADFASTNESS

Wouldn't you like to have this kind of God on your side? Especially when we add that He is ALMIGHTY, EVERLASTING and ALWAYS PRESENT.

If He is your God - worship Him!

If He is not yet your God - seek Him, because Matthew 7:7 tells us that those who seek, will find!

If you need help in finding Him - I'm always willing to help you!

My email is halinasia@psmail.net :-)